


Three... Two... One...

by MythicalCatie



Series: Hide and Seek [1]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Rhett & Link
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fictional Missing Persons Case, Gen, Kidnapping, Police Procedural, child kidnapping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-19 06:56:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22206991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MythicalCatie/pseuds/MythicalCatie
Summary: In the spring of 1986, the small town of Buies Creek, North Carolina is rocked by the disappearance of young resident Rhett James McLaughlin. The Behavioral Analysis Unit of Quantico, Virginia is called in to handle the case, the likes of which the town has never seen before. Hoping that they can find the boy before an untimely demise, follow the BAU as they work tirelessly to solve the mystery.
Series: Hide and Seek [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1598572
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	Three... Two... One...

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to betas chibitabathasloves, pintsizedrogue, and outofnowhere82. Also, thanks to mythical-linkle for her unwavering support and cheerleading! :)

The last day that Charles Lincoln Neal saw his best friend, Rhett James McLaughlin, was a day like any other. It was a sunny, warm spring day in their hometown of Buies Creek, North Carolina, a tiny thing barely on the map. It happened at recess. One moment he was there and the next he was gone. Now, ten years and counting later, Rhett McLaughlin hasn’t been seen since. 

* * *

**May 5th, 1986; Quantico, Virginia**

Penelope Garcia shuffled to join her team at the elevator, exhausted from a long, strenuous work week (and week _ end _ ), that she was excited was over, but disappointed that it’d start back up in a few hours regardless. She was sure that everybody was. They all looked dead tired. 

“Alright, team,” she began, perpetually cheery despite her need for sleep. “See all of your beautiful faces bright and early in the morning.” God, she’d need to take a taxi home, wouldn’t she? She couldn’t drive in this condition.

When the team groaned loudly in response, SSA Hotchner, or “Hotch,” chuckled tiredly, shaking his head. “Forget about today, Garcia. We’ve worked the last eight days straight, it’s one in the morning, and if we don’t slow down, we’ll all collapse. Let’s just regroup on Wednesday. Sound good?” he asked his team, and they all nodded fervently in agreement. If it had been a rude bunch, they would have zipped out of the room the second he said, ‘regroup on Wednesday.’

“You are an angel in a suit,” she yawned. “Love your faces, but nobody call unless you’re dead.” Realizing what she had said, Garcia scrunched her face in disgust. “No, scratch that. Just… Don’t call unless it’s  _ really  _ important. Ciao, lovelies.”

As the group filed onto the elevator, they all breathed a silent sigh of relief for the generosity of their unit chief. No amount of sleep would replace what they had lost and would lose in the future, but each member of the Behavioral Analysis Unit was hopeful that on Wednesday, they’d be back refreshed enough to solve another mystery. 

**May 5th, 1986; Buies Creek, North Carolina**

“All right, class!” Miss Locklear chirped, her smile almost as bright as the sun shining down on her. “Y’all know the deal. Thirty minutes before lunch and fifteen minutes after. When I blow the whistle, we’ll go in. Understood?”

“Yes, Miss Locklear!” the class called, and once Miss Locklear signaled that it was okay, they ran in various directions to make the most of their recess. 

“So, what do you want to play today?” Rhett, a taller blond boy, asked Link, his best friend, a shorter brunet. 

“I dunno.” Link kicked the dirt beneath his feet as they walked along. “I don’t really want to play tag again. Maybe we play on the swings?”

Rhett nodded and glanced over at them before turning back with a disappointed look on his face, his mouth turning down into a frown and his eyes crinkling around the edges as his brows furrowed. All five of the swings were occupied. “Sorry, Link. There aren’t any swings left.”

Link smiled sadly, but nodded. “That’s okay. Wanna play hide and seek instead?”

Rhett took a moment to mull over whether or not he’d like to play the game that they’d played a thousand times before. Somehow, he never tired of it. “Sure!” he answered, his frown upturning into a smile and his forest green eyes glinting in the sunlight. “Do you want to hide or seek first?”

“I want to hide!” Link declared before instructing Rhett to count over by the slides and darting off without another word. 

While Rhett made his way over to the slides to count, Link ran to find a good hiding spot. He had to make the most of what little time he had; once thirty seconds had passed, hunting him down was fair game. 

Finding Link was easy; hiding had never been his strong suit. He always giggled too much when Rhett got close to finding him and that alone was enough to blow his cover, so it was no surprise to either of them when Rhett crept behind the tree that Link was hidden by and laughed. “Found you!”

Rhett was a much better hider than Link, and now that it was his turn, Link was in for a challenge. 

The two went through many repetitions and both possible pairings of the game, and soon, they had eaten through most of their time at recess.

Their last shot at a round of the game, it was Rhett’s turn to hide. 

His long legs were an advantage as he raced off to find a spot to conceal himself while Link counted to thirty. He had been thinking about his hiding spot ever since the last round began, and was there in maybe fifteen seconds, if not less. Link was never going to find him here. Not in the woods. 

Link struggled to find Rhett, as they both had expected. Occasionally, when a hiding spot was serving to be a particular challenge for Link, Rhett would make a noise or two to let his location “slip.” This time, there was no such concession. In fact, Rhett made it so hard to find him that Link ran out the clock on their first recess trying. E ventually, Miss Locklear blew her whistle and Link was forced to join the rest of the students who were obediently forming a line.

Link figured that Rhett would appear behind him any moment now. The whistle was really loud, and he must have heard it. However, even as Miss Locklear took roll call to make sure all of her students had made it to the line, Rhett still hadn’t shown up, and Link glanced around in worry, wondering why he hadn’t followed instructions to return to their teacher at the sound of the whistle. Link knew that Rhett could get intense when they were playing games, but he was usually so well-behaved!

Miss Locklear called Rhett’s name first, and Link handled it well — or, so he thought. 

Link raised his hand, stretching his arm as far as it would go to ensure that he was noticed, and waited to be called on. Miss Locklear acknowledged him almost immediately. 

“Rhett’s really good at hide and seek,” Link explained to his teacher. “He probably just didn’t hear the whistle because he was so focused. Do you want me to go find him?”

Miss Locklear shook her head and gave Link a grateful smile, thinking nothing of it. Students sometimes didn’t obey the rules. That was a fact of life. “No, honey,” she declined. “That’s okay. We’ll just finish roll call and then I’ll go and take a look. I’m sure Rhett is around here somewhere.”

* * *

Miss Locklear made sure that the rest of her class was safely escorted to lunch by another teacher before she made her way to the front office. It was policy to inform the front office of a missing student so that they could put out a call for them over the PA system, and even though she wasn’t too worried just yet, she knew it was best to have as many eyes as possible looking out for Rhett. 

As other teachers and staff were dispatched to look for Rhett inside the building, Miss Locklear covered the playground by her lonesome, checking every conceivable spot. 

With each location that she failed to find Rhett, the young teacher grew increasingly more worried, her voice becoming louder and louder with each call of his name.

“Rhett!” she shouted to the abyss of a playground, knowing damn well her face would be full of worry wrinkles by the time this day was through. “Rhett! Sweetie, you can come out! I won’t be mad!”

Despite Miss Locklear’s promise, she failed to get a response from the boy for whom she was searching. But damned if she didn’t keep trying. And trying. And trying. Until eventually, she had to give up and make a very easy, but nevertheless very painful, decision.

Wringing her hands as she entered the front office, her eyes were tearful and her bottom lip trembled. She needed to keep it together, but it was almost impossible to. Her student was  _ missing _ . He could be  _ hurt.  _ Just tell her how she was supposed to be composed. 

Her legs felt like jello beneath her as she stepped up to the front desk, other teachers in her path parting to make way for her. She ran a hand through her pumped up hair, and it barely moved an inch due to all the hairspray. An inherent nervous habit, she reasoned. 

“I, uhm…” she sputtered, looking at the redheaded secretary through blurred vision. “Irene, I think… I think it’s time we call the police.”


End file.
